Our help is in the name of the Lord, who has made heaven and earth, who keepeth truth forever, and who will never forsake the works of his own hands. Grace be unto you and peace from God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in communion with the Holy Ghost. Amen. Our Scripture this morning is found in Luke chapter seven. Now begin at verse 17 through verse 35. But first, we will hear the law of our Lord from Exodus 20. And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord, thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. Luke chapter 7, beginning at verse 17. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all the region round about. And the disciples of John showed him of all these things. And John calling unto him two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits. And unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus, answering, said unto them, Go your way and tell John what things ye have seen and heard. How that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised. To the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John. What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously appareled and live delicately are in king's courts. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say unto you, among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. But he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. And all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. And the Lord said, Where unto then shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace and calling one to another and saying, We have piped unto you and ye have not danced. We have mourned to you and ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking wine. And ye say, He hath the devil. The Son of Man has come eating and drinking. And ye say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber. a friend of publicans and sinners, but wisdom is justified of all her children." So far we read God's holy, inspired, infallible Word. Let us now come before the Lord in prayer and ask His blessing upon our gathering this morning. I read this week of an illustration And it speaks to us, I think, both individually and also corporately as a congregation. There is a term used in the medical community and it is the term of unresponsiveness. And it means and refers to those patients who are not responding to various stimuli. Or maybe even questions, and you wonder sometimes why a doctor after an injury will continue to ask the question of what year were you born or how old are you and those kinds of things? Because a poor response or a total loss of response indicates there's likely something very seriously wrong. Could be serious brain infections or disorders or the result of accident. For example, if you shine a light in someone's eyes and the pupils do not dilate as they normally would, something very seriously wrong. And therefore, poor responsiveness needs immediate attention by the medical professionals for advice in diagnosing and also treating whatever may be wrong. How true that is also of us today as we listen to the messages of the word of God. How true it is, and we consider we have seen some weeks ago that Jesus is the great doctor, the physician of souls. Being unresponsive to the gospel preaching and the offers of salvation, Time and time again. Remaining unmoved. Unrepentant. Unbelieving. Shows to us there is a desperate need for divine intervention before it's too late. And some of you are still unresponsive. To the gospel. You're unresponsive to the thunders of God's wrath. And you're unresponsive. To the wooings and the gracious invitations. Of the gospel. Over the last year, these two things have been set before you time and again. And some of you are like impudent children, we don't like that game. Because that's what Jesus is going to say before us in this last Sabbath of the year. And I want to turn to the illustration that he himself has given us. I'll read these verses again from Luke, chapter seven, verse thirty one to thirty five. The Lord said, Where unto then shall I liken the men of this generation and to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace and calling one to another and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced. We have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of Man is come eating and drinking. And ye say, Behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of all her children. Our theme is going to be impudent children refusing to play. First, we want to consider the circumstance that leads up to this saying or this little parable of Jesus. Second, we want to see the comparison that Jesus is making with the children in the marketplace and John the Baptist and himself. And then we want to see the calling that it has for us today. Impudent children refusing to play. The circumstance, the comparison and the calling. John the Baptist, dear congregation, is in prison. Herod has taken him away into this place of seclusion. And as he's sitting here in this quiet cell and as he's no doubt reflecting back over all that has happened thus far, He begins to question some things. Sadly, we have to say he had some doubts. And so we see it is possible, too, for even the children of God to have legitimate questions arise in their heart and give them great and severe struggles, even after knowing marvelous things. And so John sends his disciples to Jesus and he tells his disciples, ask Jesus, are you the one that was to come? Are we to look for someone else? And when the disciples come to Jesus, what does Jesus do? Does he answer right away John's request and send the disciples back? No. He doesn't say anything about it, it seems, in addressing the question. He answers it in his own way. He begins performing miracles. And he says to the disciples of John who had come to ask the question, go bring this message back to John. See these miracles which are done. The blind see, the lame are walking, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. What do you think John was going to do with that message? The only thing we should do as well in our doubts and fears, he had to take it back to the scriptures and the scriptures were they which testified that the Messiah, when he would come, would do these very things. And John, by searching the scriptures, would find, yes, this is the Lamb of God. This is the one who was sent to deliver those who were in bondage and in the darkness of death. And after these disciples of John return with this word, Jesus begins to speak to the people. And he says to them, who do you think John was? What do you think about John the Baptist? Why did you go out into the wilderness? Did you go out to see a reed shaking of the wind? Of course, the answer is no. Did you go to see a man clothed in strange, gorgeous apparel, fit for the palace of a king? Well, of course, they knew the answer to that was no, too. He was a man with a leather girdle. He was a man who only ate locusts and honey. The answer is no. What did you go out then to see? A prophet. Yes. Jesus said, indeed, the greatest prophet that ever have lived. And he tells us this is the fulfillment of God's word. Much more than a prophet, the messenger of the covenant before thy face, prepare the way before the coming of the Messiah. And when we read of the beginnings of the gospel, we hear of the multitudes of people and even the scribes and the Pharisees came to hear John preaching there at the edge of the wilderness by the riverside. What was John declaring to them? He was calling them to repentance. And we hear in this verse 29, the people that heard John and the publicans justified God. They declared, God is just. God is right. We need to repent of our sin. We must turn to God. The kingdom of God has come. They were baptized of John. But then we read the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of John. What does that mean? Well, that means that there were those scribes and Pharisees and other Jews, too, who are gathering there at the riverside, listening to this preaching, and they were seeing what was happening to these publicans and sinners. They were coming to confess their sins and all the evil they had done and to be baptized to the forgiveness of their sins by John. But for the scribes and Pharisees, that was too much. They weren't sinners like those other people were. They weren't going to subject themselves to this kind of baptism. They began to ridicule John after some time. This man is a lunatic. This man is crazy. This man has a devil. Look how he's dressed. He's always been spending his time out in the desert all alone. Look at what he eats. Locusts dipped in honey. He lived the life of a hermit, taking upon himself the Nazarite vows. He fasted. He never enjoyed the pleasures of life. But John's purpose was to come to call the people to repentance. to call the people to mourn over their sin, to humble themselves before the living God. John was called as the messenger to prepare the way for the comforts of Christ, the comforts of the gospel, the blessings of the kingdom of God, which would come through Jesus Christ. And so they went on, not only calling him a crazy man, a lunatic, but that he was possessed of a devil. He must be an angry man. All he did was preach hell and damnation. He called them vipers. Why are you fleeing from the wrath to come? The axe is laid to the tree. You're going to be cut down. And so John preached. The message was simple. Repent. Turn from your sin. The kingdom of God is coming. The people of John's day and Jesus day didn't like the message. Didn't like the message of judgment. Didn't like the message of repentance. Especially the Pharisees and the lawyers, they knew God, they thought. They didn't need this message. It seems early on in John's ministry that he was accepted as some kind of great prophet, more or less. And of course, it also happened after some time that Jesus came. And he was baptized of John and John later said of him to his own disciples and all who were there, behold, the Lamb of God. which takes away the sin of the world. Now, this was more than the scribes and Pharisees could handle. They had come already in a certain way to have some reservation about Jesus. And so they begin to work among the people. And this whole process will continue on through the whole life of Jesus till the very end, when the scribes and Pharisees have stirred up the people who had once followed Jesus even for bread, till the point where they say, crucify him. And they're beginning now already early in the life and ministry of Jesus as well. Jesus, you remember, healed the man let down from the roof." We saw that in Mark. And the scribes and Pharisees are over in the corner. Who does he think he is for giving sin? That's for God alone to do. So these lawyers and these Pharisees are working among the people and sowing these seeds of doubt and discord. It seems that many people love to be around Jesus. There were crowds of people, it seems, wherever Jesus went. He had an audience. Sometimes there were thousands of people who followed Him. They were fed many meals by Jesus. And so often He was busy with the crowds of people around Him. He had to take a little break and go off to the mountain to pray. But the common people gladly heard Him. They were healed. His words seemed so different than John's. Jesus spoke of love. He spoke of grace. He spoke of forgiveness. And then there was that publican of all the chief of the publicans, Matthew. And when Matthew was called, he had a feast. You remember, children, that big banquet and party that Matthew had for all of his friends. And Jesus was there. Jesus was so different than John, he enjoyed the things of everyday life. He ate and he drank. Unlike John, he lived a normal life like all the others would have in those days. How could he be the son of God? How could he make claim to these things? And eventually, you see, these people would also begin to question Jesus. And just as they accused John of being possessed of a demon, so they would accuse Jesus of the same. He casts out demons by the the chief Beelzebub of the demons. Jesus came to give those who had heard John's message comfort. He preached the gospel. To the poor. But in looking at the book of Mark, as we have done so several months ago, we we've seen that their messages weren't that different. Jesus and John both preached repentance. Both preached the need for forgiveness of sin and reconciliation to God. They both spoke about the coming of the kingdom of God, demanding repentance and faith. So you see, it wasn't so much John that was repulsive to those who heard. It wasn't so much Jesus and what he did that was so repulsive. It was the message. It was the message that was offending these people. You see, it was a shock in those days to those religious people. that they needed to repent. And I'm afraid that when we grow up with the word of God and with the call to repentance and with the gospel message. We lose the shock of the call. To repentance. And natural man doesn't like to hear that message. He doesn't like to face the reality. He's a sinner. Under the just condemnation of God. And so even churches today, in the face of all the tolerance of our society, needs to water down the message to attract people into the church, slowly begin to teach them, begin to guide them in the way of what they need to change. But we need to focus on what we're to do as Christians. We need to be in our society and we need to live morally upright lives and we need to help those who are suffering with AIDS, and there's so many in poverty today. And all that being true. But if the message of repentance, turning from sin, living holy and godly before the face of God. Is not preached. You have no gospel. You have no need to flee to the only Savior, Christ. He's been only something that's added on to the top. Who helps you along the way? Instead of coming as lost sinners with nothing in our hands to bring and simply to Christ to cling. We reject the message. That's what they were doing in the day of Jesus. Today, there are there are people, indeed, who who look for churches like they're shopping for the best deal. They test the people of the church, they test the music of the church, they test the atmosphere of the church, but the concern for the gospel and the word of God is low priority. And although John and Jesus were very different. They brought the same message. The gospel of the kingdom, the need for repentance, faith in Christ. You see what begins to happen when people criticize the messenger, they begin to criticize the church and and several practices within the church and often the root of that. They hate the message. That's what's happening here in the day of Jesus. Do you think Pharisees like to be called snakes, the chaff, the wind comes along and blows away, vipers, hypocrites? No, that wouldn't be acceptable in today's world, in the religious spheres in which much of the world operates. But it's what Jesus and John did. Jesus senses something of what's happening already early on in his ministry. And he says. How will I like and how will I compare this generation, what will I make it like, how will I paint a picture for you so you can see it clearly what you're doing? That brings us to our second point, the comparison that Jesus makes. And we need to be very clear that Jesus himself is saying these words and Luke wants to make it clear to where for then shall I liken these are words of Jesus. This is what Jesus is thinking. He's saying, you want to know my assessment of this generation. You want to know my assessment of those who have heard John's message and my message. Time and again, we come across that word in Scripture generation. And most often it is used in a very negative way in the New Testament, Luke 9, 41, Jesus said they are a faithless, unbelieving and perverse generation. Chapter 11, he calls them a wicked generation. He accuses the generation. That is before him of shedding the blood of all the prophets. He's saying that is this generation at which he will suffer many things and be rejected. And so, Jesus says, this is my assessment of this generation, they're like children in the marketplace. And in those days, children, it's. Sort of unlike our days today, but if you travel to some of the third world countries, you would find it very much like Jesus Day. As we saw in Simba 2, the marketplace is very busy at certain times of the week, certain days when market is being held. It's bustling about with activity and people buying and selling. But in the days when there's no market, there's only the tables that are left in the little huts. Jesus must have been referring to those times when no one was there but the children who were going about their way and playing. Playing games. playing in the streets. And just like today, children also at times play games and pretend and make believe. And a lot of times when children play, they they make up games that are like the things adult people do. And so maybe you've yourself or your children have experienced this in your family when one of the children say, let's play church and there's four or five of their own children or siblings, or maybe some of the children are visiting, and so one of the children gets up on a little box or stands in front of the others, and they're all holding little psalters, and the boy begins preaching. They sing a song, and some of the kids say, no, I don't want to play this anymore. Let's play school. So everybody moves around, and somebody becomes the teacher, Oftentimes, it's perhaps a very strict teacher. There's no talking. You have to be doing your work. Quite different than the joy of preaching and singing. This is what Jesus is talking about, just a simple illustration. He's saying this generation, in other words, you who are listening to me, Jesus says, I will liken you to these children who are playing in the marketplace and calling to one another. One of you wants to play wedding. You want to have a merry feast and song and dance like they see the adults do when there is a wedding. Some of the children say, no, we don't want to play that. And somebody says, we want to play a funeral. So somebody begins to mourn as they hired mourners in those days, and they begin to wail, begin to cry aloud. And again, the children say, we don't want to play that either. If you watch these children, soon you will conclude that these children are just plain rude. Snobs. Or in a common term, I suppose we would say, They're like breath. Impudent. Insolent. Sulking. Surly. Nothing was good enough. Nobody was doing it right. If you did it one way, it wasn't right. You did it another way, it wasn't right. Nothing could please them. And here you have the two extremes. Happy. Sad. Dancing. Weeping, and yet neither of these was good enough for the children. Maybe we can relate to that in our everyday lives to some degree or other. And Jesus uses this very simple illustration to make a profound case against those who had received neither John's message nor his own. Of course, Jesus is here speaking about a funeral. sad, doleful, dirges. He was talking about John. John the Baptist didn't come eating or drinking. He didn't eat bread or drink wine. He didn't live a normal life as we would perceive it. He was out in the deserts alone, eating locusts, clothed with camel's hair and a leather girdle. He preached a dire warning, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. The axes laid to the tree, ready to be cut down and cast into the burning. You see, John wanted to make the people mourn over their sin. And the tone of his sermons must have been similar to a dirge. And we could say a funeral message, perhaps. It was hell and brimstone preaching. John wasn't involved in the daily activities, it seems, of the common people. He was in the desert. He was separate. He seemed unsociable. He didn't hear the latest news. He didn't eat what everyone else ate. It's like a funeral message. Jesus says this was like John the Baptist. He came neither eating nor drinking. But you say he is a devil. At one point, you would have said he's a great prophet. But now you come and you say he's a demon. He's strange. He lives in isolation in the desert. His message is harsh. We don't like to listen to this. Why couldn't he be normal? We might listen to him. They were like impudent children. We're not going to hear this man. We're not going to play that game. Yet this man spoke the truth. He was clearly a prophet of the living God. They were offended, not with his Manner of preaching, though that's what they said, it was with a message. To repent and turn from sin, that's old fashioned. It's too harsh for our current age. Need to tone it down a little. Need to be more encouraging, a little more sensitive to those who are seeking. And that's what preachers seek to do today. Compromise the message with their message. I think by using certain methods, they'll get people to listen. Not so offensive. Fail to realize the gospel is going to always be offensive. The cross is always going to displease natural man. But Jesus isn't finished. He says, but I, the Son of Man, have come. I have come in an entirely, completely different way. I came among you eating and drinking. I dwelt among you as a common man among the common people. He, as it were, moved in and lived among the people. He knew the news of the day. He was associating with whoever would want to associate with him. Those who were sick, those who were lepers, children, deaf, blind, dumb, mourners, wedding goers, Religious leaders, publicans, harlots, all kinds of people surrounded Jesus. The ministry of Jesus was much more like a wedding. In fact, Jesus himself said when the disciples of John came to him and asked him, why don't your disciples fast? Why aren't they sad more often like we are, the disciples of John? Jesus said, Can the children of the bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them. Then they will fast. In other words, right now, Jesus is saying the kingdom has come. The marriage feast is now with the Lamb of God. It's time to rejoice. Time of joy. The Messiah is here. And so what did Jesus do? He went about to those feasts that were prepared for him. You remember, again, many times that Jesus spent mingling with publicans and sinners at these feasts. But Jesus didn't change his message. Was the same. He didn't come, he says, at that feast, you remember? Scribes and Pharisees already were then complaining because he went to Matthew's house and he said, but I didn't come. To call the whole. I came to call the sick. They're in need of the physician. So here is a man who eats and drinks like everyone else. But his message is the same. And in order to to tarnish the man, scribes and Pharisees, they begin to say, here is a man gluttonous. All he does is eat, goes to feasts, to weddings. He's a winebibber. All he does is drink. The meaning is until he is even drunk, he wastes his time in eating and drinking just the opposite of John. But they didn't receive him either. They didn't play marriage either. And so what is Jesus likened this generation to? He says it's like these impudent children in the marketplace. They're never satisfied. They're always complaining. They're never wanting to play one thing or the other, even though they're quite opposite from one another. John came sober, surrounded by no one, preaching judgment, repentance, washing away of our sin. Weeping in view of the wrath of God which would come upon them. He was a separate man. This was his method. But they rejected him. Jesus came. Tender, loving, kind, forgiving, gracious. He spoke about joy. The kingdom of God which has come. He spoke repentance. Faith in Christ. He called for feasting and rejoicing. They rejected him. Then Jesus said, but wisdom. Wisdom is justified of all her children. In other words, Jesus is saying you will see the fruit of these two ministries. When he has died. Enter the grave and risen and gone to heaven. There were 500 men who come to that mountain to see him ascend. That's the fruit. Wisdom is justified in those who have clung to Christ, who have turned from their sin and believed alone in him. And this continues to be the call that goes forth. And all those who are wise enter in with the fools, the impudent children, continue to murmur. They don't dance. They don't sing. And they don't mourn. And that brings us to our last thought. How are we to liken this generation? Your generation, my generation. I'm afraid that much of what Jesus said It's meeting with the same response to the message of John, of Jesus. One says, come, let's play wedding. No, we don't want that. One says, come, let's play funeral. No, we don't want that. One's too heavy. One's too light. You see how inconsistent these impudent children were. And how inconsistent are we who say, I want to come to Christ, I want to be saved. Yet you don't come to Him. You pray that you might come to Him, you say you're ready to give the world if you might find Him. And yet you haven't forsaken one thing. For him. And when Jesus comes before us and all his willingness and his suitability and his readiness to save sinners. You don't come. Like these impudent children. No, we don't like that way. Essence, we're saying we want another way. Regarding salvation. And there are those who think to mention God's sovereign purpose and will is in a sense hindering them from seeking Christ, they believe in his sovereignty, they believe in an election and all of these things. They won't have God to be any different than what he is, because he is the sovereign who is overall, because if he wasn't, we would be in a most hopeless situation. Because when we hear about the love of God and His great love that He has, then the question is, well, if God is so sovereign, directing all things in this life, how can He be so loving? There's wars, there's earthquakes, there's tornadoes, there's all these evil things that are happening. And we wouldn't have God to be weak either. But we don't flee to Him as the Almighty. You don't want to have God who can see all things, especially seeing your heart and your thoughts and your mind and all that you think about Him and all that you think about sin. You don't want a God who knows everything. And yet, on the other hand, you wish God would know everything about your circumstance so that He, knowing everything, could help you out of your circumstance. that He could do what's best for you in your very case. Like impudent children, you don't want it one way and you don't want it the other. And you have a quarrel with God when He shows mercy to some sinner. You sit displeased as the elder brother when others come into the kingdom before you. And all the while, the father is sitting next to the elder son, beseeching him. I have always been with you. All that I have is yours. We don't want it that way. Impudent children want a savior who can save us from our sins, but not make us holy. There is no such thing. Like these scribes, these Pharisees. We don't want Jesus and we don't want John. We're inconsistent. We profess that there is a God who is holy, who is just and is great and glorious, who hates sin. We profess that He knows everything about us. And we profess that He can do as He pleases because He's God. And then, We go about our day living like He doesn't see us, like He's not going to bring everything we do into judgment, that He doesn't call us to repentance and refuse to bow the knee of our heart before Christ in repentance. And we become even angry with God when He doesn't do what we want Him to do. Continue to live careless lives, troubling ourselves very little about our eternal state, And yet at the same time saying, God is judge. The world is going to end. He will judge all people. And yet we pursue the world and all of its pleasures and we go on into sin in the face of the plain and clear commands of his word. Some even speak of wonderful experience, sorrow over sin. You speak of your own wicked hearts that you say the Lord has taught you. You claim perhaps to have seen the gospel, seen the light, believed in Christ. But your life is a token. These things are not true. Your confession and your walk don't agree, they don't stand together. You seek the things of the world and sinful pleasures at the same time trying to hold on to some kind of Christ. Do you think you're any different than these impudent children of Jesus day? We don't want Jesus. We don't want John. How inconsistent you are with yourselves. But the Pharisees, verse 30, and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves. They were living fools. And we take the very words of Jesus. They didn't want to hear, he says, the preaching of John, it's too severe. They want to hear the words of Jesus, it's too free. What are you choosing and refusing at one and the same time that's contradictory to each other? To think to live on in your sins and at the same time fool yourself into thinking you want God. Why is it you see Christ, that you pray to him, that you wish for him? And yet, when he's presented to you. When He's set before you, you refuse it. You're inconsistent, foolish, impudent, pleased with neither feasting or fasting, merriment or mourning, John or Christ. You want Christ, but to remain as you are. It's not possible. The Pharisees wanted to do the same thing. They wanted to continue living on the way they were because they had enough. When John and Jesus preached the message of repentance. It reached the heart of who they were and they didn't want him and they didn't want him. When our lives are not what they should be. Don't we often do the same? We take issue with this or that in the church. We find fault with this or that here. And all the while, our souls are lost. Like children, we don't want this. We don't want that. We haven't mourned. We haven't rejoiced. The Pharisees found fault with John. They found fault with Jesus. And all the while, what were they rejecting? The message of God. And when people don't want to hear the truth, they can find all kinds of excuses why not to listen. Even when they are inconsistent in their criticisms, which are day and night opposed to each other, their impudent children. No matter how the gospel is presented, such people continue on in their unbelief. Refusing offered invitation, refusing to repent, continuing on in their way as they did in Jesus generation. When Jesus says, take up your cross and follow me, that means he's saying you need to live a life of denying yourselves. But so many don't want the cross. They want Christ alone. We want God to give us joy and peace, and when we experience trouble and trial upon that way of following him, of carrying the cross he gives us. We bulk. We complain. We criticize. Some who want to remain on the throne of their lives. And at the same time to say, Jesus, you may have thrown. They refuse to get off. There are those who hear the gospel, hear the call to repentance, who hear of Christ and his willingness and suitability. And by the spirit of God, they surrender to him. They come to trust him. He alone is the way they turn from their former life sitting on the throne. They see they've lived in rebellion against God and they turn to him and say, Lord, here I am. That's wisdom. Wisdom is justified of all our children. Wisdom is to to hear the gospel, call and obey. Foolishness, impudence is hearing the gospel call and refusing to obey. Isn't that the summary of how Jesus ends his sermon on the Mount? This is the wise and the foolish builder. Foolish builders heard everything, but he doesn't do anything. The wise builder is heard, he obeys. And so through this past year, you have heard sermons piped to you. You have heard the call to repentance, to mourn. You have heard the call to rejoice. You've heard the call to repent and the call to faith. And yet some are as impudent children in the marketplace, and you give your excuse, your reason for not obeying the gospel. Do you really listen to the word of God as he calls you? Or do you pay lip service? Do you fool yourselves into thinking that you want salvation? And then you refuse the way God sets it before you. Back in the days when there was a telegraph as the method of the fastest long distance communication, there was a young man who applied for a job as a Morse code operator. He answered the ad in the newspaper and he went into the office. When he arrived, he entered this large outer room, busy office filled with noise and chatter and clutter, and also the sound of the telegraph clicking away in the background. And the sign on the receptionist counter instructed all those who had come for the job to pick up the paper and begin to fill it out and wait for their turn to be called. And so the young man filled out the form and he looked around. There are many other people sitting there. And after a few minutes, this young man stood up, crossed over to the room, to the door, into the inner office, and he walked right in. And naturally, the other applicants, they wondered what's going on. How come he can just walk into this room? They hadn't heard anyone call them. This young man must have made a mistake. He would be disqualified, certainly. Within a few minutes, however, the employer came out and told all the other applicants they could go home. The position had been filled. They went away grumbling. How come he got the job he came in last? The man said, oh, wait a minute. I'm sorry, but for the last few minutes, Since all of you are sitting here, the telegraph has been clicking out the message. If you understand this message, come right in. The job is yours. None of you heard it. None of you understood it. This man did. He has the job. God is speaking to us. He's speaking through his word. Do you hear his voice? Message of John, Jesus. Call to repentance, coming of the kingdom of God, repentance and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ has come to us time and time again. Have you been as impudent children? Criticize John, criticize Jesus. Are you like the children of Jesus day in the marketplace? Or are you children of wisdom who hear the word and obey? Let's pray. Gracious and merciful God, we draw near to thee once more. Grant us hearts of obedience. Lord, we confess we can earn nothing, but thou has completed all that is the message to which The gospel testifies there is a complete and full forgiveness of all sin. There is a savior who is willing and suitable and ready to forgive. But teach us, Lord, our impudence. Our self-sufficiency, our sin, our need. For the doctor and so go before us. And the rest of this day to think upon this message, and to consider what we have done in this past year with the Word of the living God, Thy Word, which has come to us. So go before us, we pray, in mercy and in grace. Gather us in this evening. Bless us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Receive the blessing of the Lord and depart in peace. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.